The Anzisha Prize – Africa’s foremost entrepreneurial awards which rewards young African entrepreneurs – has now included a $10, 000 USD Energy Prize in addition to the $75, 000 USD in cash prizes already up for grabs.

The award has been made possible thanks to the Donor Circle for Africa, a group of Silicon Valley Community Foundation donors supporting individuals and non-profit organisations committed to making a difference to improve the lives of the people in their community.

The $10,000 Energy Prize supplement to the Anzisha Prize will be awarded to an applicant who demonstrates ingenuity in developing sustainable renewable energy sources.

Qualifications for a winning project are:

It provides an affordable, sustainable source of energy generation. Energy can be based on any type of renewable resource such as wind, solar, geo-thermal, bio-sources, water and others.

It is locally sustainable. The project must be built, operated, and maintained by the people and resources available in the community it serves.

It has applicability in a broad range of communities across Africa. While the project must be locally sustainable, the resources and technology must not be so unique that it cannot be replicated. Other communities could implement the model given access to reasonably common resources.

It is innovative either in the technology (a new or more efficient way of producing power) or in the application (adapting methods or technology to generate or store power in a new way).

With more than $75, 000 USD in cash prizes, the Anzisha Prize – hosted by the African Leadership Academy in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation – celebrates initiative and innovation. It identifies exceptional young entrepreneurs who are leading by example and underscores their ability to significantly shape the future of Africa.

The Anzisha Prize is open to entrepreneurs from around the African continent aged between 15 and 22. Applications are now open and close on April 1, 2013. Entry forms are available online, via mobile phone and in print.

Applicants can download the online application form from the Anzisha Prize website (www.anzishaprize.org), and email the completed form to [email protected]. In the coming weeks, discussions around the state and character of youth entrepreneurship in Africa will be hosted on the Anzisha Prize Facebook page – www.facebook.com/anzishaprize. You can also follow on Twitter (@anzishaprize)

Finalists will win an all-expense paid trip to the African Leadership Academy (ALA) in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend a weeklong entrepreneurship conference and awards gala. While there, they will be taught by ALA’s renowned Entrepreneurial Leadership faculty as well as experienced business mentors.

YNaija is the internet newspaper for young Nigerians, focused on the issues and ideas that matter for an evolving generation. It is an arm of the RED brand, which is the continent's largest omni-media group focused on Africa's youth.